Cigarette packing machinery



Dec. 13, 1932. w, MOLiNs CIGARETTE PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 1, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FislO. 7

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Dec. 13, 1932. w. E. MOLINS CIGARETTE PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 1, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNl/ENTOR.

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CIGARETTE PACKING MACHINERY Filed July 1, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 13, 1932 UNITED STATES WALTER EVERETT lllEOLINS, OF DEPTFORD, LONDON, ENGLAND CIGARETTE PACKING .MAGHINERY Application filed July 1, 1929, Serial No. 375,237, and in Great Britain July 11, 1 928.

. that a tooth or teeth move or moves automatically into the space vacated by a cigarette or cigarettes removed from the carton so as to retain in position the remaining cigarettes in the carton. A carton of this type is disclosed in my copending application, Serial No. 243,720, filed December 30, 1927.

The present invention consists of a machine forproducing packets of the type referred to wherein a blank'having a series of teeth formed at one end parallel to the longer dimension thereof is automatically folded into 'a U formation about a former (for example, a batch. of cigarettes) with the teeth automatically folded back upon the blank so that the same are disposed adjacent to the former.

The invention will be more particularly described with reference to the accompanyin drawings, in which Fig. 1 is 'a plan view of a machine adapted to pack cigarettes in a single piece carton provided with yieldingly controlled teeth.

Fig. 2 is a detailed'view of the blank.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the mechanism for feeding the blanks.

Fig. 4 is a section on line A-A of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an end view of a portion of the machine illustrated in Fig. 1 in the direction of the arrow B.

Fig. 6 is a plan View of a machine adapted to pack cigarettes in a carton of the slide and shell type wherein the slide is furnished with yieldingly controlled teeth.

Fig. 7 is a detailed view of the slide blank.

Fig. 8 is a section of Fig. 6 on the line C-C, and

Figs. 11 and 12 are sectional views onthe a section lines H and. respectively of Fig. 1;

j 'ffi I Fig. 13 is a fragmentary elevational view taken at the point indicated by the reference character'ziin Fig. '6.

Referring to F igs. 1 to '5'; cigarettes are locate'din a'hopper 1 arranged to deliver the same to the channel 2 along which pusher pieces 30f a continuous'chain conveyor are arranged to move.

The pusher pieces 3 pass beneath a series of vertically disposed vanes i'so as to'remove a row or rowsof cigarettes'in the manner described in U. S. Patent No. '1,601,257,and

carry them through wrapping mechanism indicated diagrammatically at 5 wherein a web of foil of a width equal to the width ofthe batch of cigarettes is continuously drawn from a reel and located across the path of the endless conveyor, the arrangement being such that a strip of foil is severed from the web as the batch of cigarettes,-moved by the pusher piece 3, meets the web. The wrapping mechanism may be of the kind described in U S. Patent No. 1,468,246 with the side folders omitted.

The foil wrapper consists of a strip of foil 6 which completely covers the cigarettes except at the side portions and the foil is fed to the machine so that the cigarettes meet the same after the major portion of the strip has passed through the slot in the bed.

The cigaretes then force the strip into the folding plates (not shown) which cause a short portion of the strip to be bent down on the upper surface of the cigarettes whilst the lower surface of the cigarettes is completely covered by the strip and a portion of the strip trails behind and beneath the pusher piece of the conveyor as shown in Fig. 1. The partly wrapped batch of cigarettes is then carried along by the pusher piece 3 and deposited upon a blank 7 which is fed out from a magazine 8 so that the same lies in the path of the conveyor 9.

The blank is fed into the path of the conveyor 9 by a blank feeding mechanism shown in section at Fig. 3. The blanks 7 are fed from the magazine 8 by a needle pad 10 reciprocated by an eccentric 10.

The blank 7 passes between a pair of feed rollers 11 and 12 which feed it to a further pair of rollers 13 and 14, and during this movement the side flaps a and b of the blank are folded upwardly at right angles to the plane of the blank by the folders 15. At the same time theslit 0 is 0 ened so. that the same can engage with the loc in-g tongue d.

This operation is carried out by a blade 16 mounted on the top roller 13 and operable to project into the slot 17 the lower roller 14.

As the blank 7 passes from thegrip of the rollers 13 and 14, the same passes be tween a pair of rotatable rollers 18 and 19, these rollers'being rotated by friction with the blank which is long enough to feed from rollers 13-, 14 110-rollers 22,23. .The upper roller 18 is carried on ,an arm 18 pivoted at 20 and is periodically raised upwardly by a cam .21. The arrangement is such that the roller 18 rises clear-of the front portion of the blank so that the upstanding folds a of the blank are not interfered with, but as the rear portion of the blank passes beneath the roller 18 the latter drops and the side flaps b are rolled out into their original position.

The object .ofthis movement isto break down the material along the folding lines so that the flap 9 carrying the spring teeth e may be subsequently folded and gummed in .position.

he blank 7 next passes-between a further pairof rotating rollers 22 and 23 which feed the blank towards the finalposition on the conveyor bed and the blank 7 is controlled during this operation by guides v24 which press the 'body of the blank-on to the machine :bed while upstanding guides 25 guide the upturned flaps a ofthe'blank. The guides 25 are carried above the surface of the bed and guides 24 are supported by bridges 24 as shown diagrammatically in Fig. 10. The blank passes between an upper knurled sector 26 which cooperates with a roller 27 to feed the blank into its final position on a conveyor bed 28.

When the blank comes to rest, an arm 29 operated by a cam 30 bends the spring teeth 6 of the blank through an angle of substantially 90.

Further movement of the sector 26 causes the lug 31 to contact with the spring teeth e and bend the same downwardly until they lie on the sloping face of a guide member 32.

, WVhen the blank is in the position indicated above, a wrapped batch of cigarettes are moved on to the same from the channel 2. The loaded blank is then carried along by a pusher piece 33 of the conveyor 9 at right angles to its previous movement, andsmall catches on the conveyor (not shown) hold up the side folds a of the blank to retain the cigarettes in position.

When the packet commences its movement under the influence of the pusher 33 the spring teeth are bent into contact with the flap which carries them by a bent plate or folder 38, but owing to their natural resiliency they spring away from the surface of the flap to some extent until they come under the influence of the tucker 37, hereinafter referred to. This plate 38 comprises a small stationary folder and it will be noted that the flap which carries the fingers runs beneath this folder so as to bend the teeth against the flap.

The trailing flap of foil, previously mentioned, is supported on a thin plate 34 and the closure flap f of the carton lies beneath the flap of foil and is separated from it by the thin plate 34 so. that as the packet passes along the conveyor, the closure flap lies beneath the thin plate and the foil on-the upper -sur face thereof.

Spiral folders 35 and 36 on the opposite side of the bed to that on which the closure flap is disposed are adapted to bend the flap g of the packet which carries the spring teeth 0 through an angle of 180 so that this flap then lies on the upper surface of the ciga- .rettes.

The manner in which this folding opera tion is preferably carried out is illustrated in more detail in Figs. 11 and 12 of the drawings from which it will be observed that a small stationary knife edge 71, is mounted on any convenient portion of the machine frame and extends from the point where the blanks are delivered to the'conveyor 33, this knife edge gradually tapering off to an extremely thin en The creased slide passes along beneath the knifeedge 71 so that the fiap 9 may be easily turned up by the folder 35. The second fold is formed as shown in Fig. 12, the flap g of the blank being merely bent around the ends of the cigarettes. At the initial part of the last mentioned bendin g operation the extreme end of the knife 71 serves to prevent the folding flap 9 from crushing the ends of the cigarettes.

lVhen the flap carrying the teeth has been moved through an angle of about 180 a tucking bar 37 operated by cam 37" moves between the said flap and the surface of the cigarettes and thrusts the spring teeth 6 downwardly so that they lie between the two surfaces.

V-Jhen this folding operation has been completed the extending flap of foil, previously mentioned, engages with a spiral folder 39 i which bends the same through 90 so that it stands vertically.

Shortly afterwards the closure flap f of the packet engages with a spiral folder 40 so that the closure flap follows the movement of the foil flap, but is separated therefrom by a short distance.

A-triangular bar 41 is fixed to the folder 39, the base of the triangle lying in contact with the ends of the cigarettes. The folder carries the closure flap through 180, and during this process the flap bends over the foil extension.

The bending operation takes place about the apex of the triangular bar and the effect of this movement is to cause the closure section to meet the surface of the flap which carries the teeth 6 at an acute angle so that the locking tongue (1 is ready to engage with the slit 0 in the closure flap as shown in Fig. 5.

The final closing operation is performed by an oscillating arm 42 operated by a cam 43 and roller 44. The arm 42 presses the closure flap in a manner indicated in Fig. 5, the flap itself being controlled by the end 45 of the folder 40.

A hinged guide 46 is also provided which retains the flap carrying the spring fingers in position as shown in Fig. 5, as the latter is not yet gummed.

After the closing operation referred to above, the carton is transferred to another conveyor 47 which moves at right angles to the conveyor just described.

The conve or carries pusher pieces 48 which carry t e carton along. The carton is located between a pair of guides 49 which support the side extensions a of the lower portion of the packet, and at the same time bend the side extensions 1) of the upper portion of the packet so that they once more lie flush with the upper section.

The carton is then carried through gumming mechanism comprising a gum bath 50 in which rotate a pair of discs 51 and gum is applied to the side flaps b, and immediately afterwards the flaps b are bent downwardly by folders indicated at 52 which bend the fia-ps 7) into contact with the side extensions a of the lower half of the packet.

The packet is then discharged into a vertical stacker 53 furnished with a vertical reciprocating platform (not shown). The movement of the platform causes the packets to rise in a stack and during this process the gum on the flaps b is dried and the finished block ended carton emerges from the top of the stacker.

The whole of the mechanism of the last conveyor, gumming apparatus and stacker is fully described in British Patent No. 305,750.

Referring to" Figs. 5 to 9 which show a method of folding up the slide of a slide and shell carton furnished with spring teeth and thrusting the same into the outer shell, the cigarettes are fed from a hopper 11 by the conveyor piece 3 and covered with a strip of foil 6 in the manner indicated above.

The slides 54 are placed in a magazine 55 of a feeding mechanism of similar constrution to the one previously described with reference to Figs. 1 and 3.

As the blanks are fed out from the magazine by a reciprocating tooth in the manner previously described, the side flaps h are turned upwards bysfolders 56 and the slides are then fed forwards by rollers 57 to a .knurled sector 58 resembling the sector 26 on Fig.1.

The spring teeth k are bent over in the manner previously described, and the slide is delivered to thepusher piece 33 of the conveyor 9, where it receives the batch of cigarettes wrapped in foil.

, A cam. operated tucker 59 bends the extension flap m at right angles to the upstanding flap h and theopposite extension flap n is bentatright angles to the flap It by a guide 60 as the loaded slide is carried along-by the pusher piece 33.

.Fig. 9 shows an enlarged elevation of the mechanism for operating the tucker 5,9. The tucker is mountedon a vertical spindle 59 -andhas an extension lever'59 at the-top thereof.

is connected to the lever 59 by a link 59 so that as the cam rotates the tucker 59 oscillates through a right angle. I

'Thefiap p carrymg the spring teeth A pivoted'lever 59,operated by cam59 passes-between a set of rotating rollers 61 and. the surface speed of these is equal to the linear speed of the pusher 33. These rollers 61 are driven in any conventional manner, for instance, as illustrated in Fig. 13 fromwhich it will be .observed that the-lower set of roll- {I ers are driven through spiral gears 73 secured to the roller shafts, these gears meshmg shaft 7 25f themachine. By this means the flap p is prevented from lagging behind the with a common spiralgear 74 driven throughbevel gearing 75, 76 from the main slide next passes between a pair of folders 63 which bend the end flaps about the dotted lines 1" so that they stand vertical, and further folders 64 and 65 bend the upstanding flaps downwards so that they lie on the surface of the cigarettes.

. At this point the cam operated tucker 37 bends the spring teeth beneath the surface of the flap p in the manner previously described, and the completely folded slide passes along to the filling position 66.

The shells 67 are stacked in the magazine 68 and fed outwardly at an angle as shown, in the manner described in U. S. Patents Nos. 1,473,496 and 1,722,229 and the loaded slide is inserted cornerwise into the open shell and "izo rettes on a blank having: teethformed. in one end thereof, of means'for folding the blank in U formation about the cigarettes,

, and means for folding the teeth between the rfi cigarettes and that portion of'theblank on i I which the teeth are formed whereby the teeth resiliently engage the cigarettes to -prevent unintentional displacement thereof. I

2. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination with means for folding a carton blank having teeth formed on one end thereof into substantially U formation, of means a for folding the teeth within the blank so that the teeth are directed toward the base of the U.

3; In a cigarette packing -:rna'chine, the combination with means for feeding a'blank having teeth formed inoneend thereof,

means for bending'the teeth away from the body of the blank, means for depositingCiga iettes upon the body of-th'e 'blankfmeans for bending the bodyof the blank aboutthe cigarettes; and means for-inserting the teeth between the cigarettes and the blanki 4. In a"'cigarette"- packing machine, the combinationwith means for feeding a blank having teth 'fQFnied in-"one" end thereof, means for bending the'teeth reversely upon the body of the" blank,fand means for folding the'blank in substantially U formation with the teeth dire ted within and toward the base of the p v 5.. In apparatus of the cla'sddesc'ribed, the

(Kimbinatioi 1' with mama's T feeding a blank t a position offrest, of an oscillating member i for engaging 'a portion -'of the blank {to bend the said portion away"f r o'm the body of the blank;"ineans for" thereaftei" engaging the blank to eontinue the feeding" thereof, and a member moving with said last named means and en a eab le with the bent portion of the blank to complete the bending thereof. i

6, In apparatus of the class described, the combination with means for feedinga blank to a position of rest, of an oscillating member for engaging a portion of the'blank to bend the said portion away from the body of the blank, a rotatable element for thereafter engaging said blank to continue the feeding thereof, and a member carried by said element and engageable with the bent, portion of the blank to complete the bending thereof.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

IVALTER EVERETT MOLINS. 

